Air conditioner construction



Aug. 18, 1970 o R. SCHUSTER 3,524,328

AIR CONDITIONER CONSTRUCTION 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed July 30, 1968 INVENTOR.

Y 001mm Scuusrm Aug. 18, 1970 D. R. SCHUSTER AIR CONDITIONER CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 30. 1968 INVENTOR. Dom/.0 P 50mm United States Patent 3,524,328 AIR CONDITIONER CONSTRUCTION Donald Ray Schuster, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to American Standard Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 30, 1968, Ser. No. 748,875 Int. Cl. FZSd 21/14 U.S. Cl. 62-285 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A room air conditioning unit (selective heating and cooling) having a refrigerant coil in the treated air stream, and a tube-in-tube heat exchange coil in a separate chamber for condensing or evaporating the refrigerant passing through the first coil (depending on whether the refrigerant coil is on the air cooling or air heating cycle). Both coils are located in the upper portion of the cabinet, and both coils utilize a common drain pan located in the front central portion of the cabinet. The compressor, coils and blower may be mounted on a slideout chassis for repair access. Additionally the blower may be mounted as a slide-out assembly from the chassis for repair access. The slide-out chassis may be cushionably mounted within the main cabinet for dampening noise generated in the compressor, blower, and fluid ducts.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an air conditioning unit incorporating a refrigerant circuit as herein proposed.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken through a cabinet having the FIG. 1 conditioning components arranged in the manner of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a view taken on line 44 in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 5 through 8 are fragmentary views illustrating constructional details in the FIG. 3 embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the FIG. 3 structure with the chassis thereof drawn out of the cabinet.

THE DRAWINGS IN DETAIL FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a room air conditioner 10 utilizing a self-contained refrigerant machine (using for example R-22, said machine comprising a compressor 12, a first heat exchanger 14, and a second heat exchanger 16 suitably connected with a manually or motor-operated reversing valve 18. In the illustrated position of valve 18 coil 14 acts as a refrigerant evaporator to cool air flowing across its fins 20; coil 16 acts as a refrigerant condenser to condense the refrigerant after its compression in compressor 12. The heat of condensation is removed from condenser 16 by water flowing through an inner tubular conduit 22, said water being initially supplied from a riser water supply pipe 24, and the water being exhausted to a main discharge pipe 26. Coils 16 and 22 constitute a tube-in-tube heat exchange coil 23.

When reversing valve 18 is moved rightwardly within its ported housing 19 the coil 14 then acts as a refrigerant condenser and coil 16 acts as a refrigerant evaporator. In that event coil 14 acts to heat the air passing across the fins 20, while coil 16 acts to cool the Water flowing through tubular conduit 22. By maintaining the water supply temperature within a predetermined range, for example between 65 F. and 80 F., the coils 22 in some room units can act to evaporate refrigerant while the coils 22 in other room units can act to condense refrigerant.

There will of course be as many room units as there are rooms or areas to be heated and/or cooled, and all coils 22 will be connected within the main supply pipe 24 and the return pipe 26, the various coils 22 then being located in parallel flow relation with one another so that each coil receives water at about the same temperature and in a sufficient amount.

The refrigerant machines as thus far described are similar to the units shown in U.S. Pat. 3,165,148; the present invention relates to cabinet construction for housing each room unit 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the cabinet comprises a sheet metal rear wall 30, a bottom wall 32, and a top wall 34. The front Wall of the cabinet preferably comprises a removable panel 36 having a hook-like lip or flange 38 at its upper edge for retention of the panel on the housing; suitable clips (not shown) may be provided on or adjacent the lower edge of panel 36 to retain the panel in place while permitting removal of the panel for access to the components within the cabinet.

The cabinet may have various dimensions, but as an example the cabinet may be on the order of 22 inches high, 12 inches deep (front to rear) and 51 inches wide (perpendicular to the plane of the paper). Suitablefront to rear vertical partitions (paralleling the plane of the paper) may be provided to form a relatively wide central compartment and two relatively narrow end compartments. The central compartment may have a width for example of 33 inches, and the two end compartments may make up the remaining width. Compressor 12 and valve 18 may be disposed in one of the end compartments.

The central compartment is subdivided by a horizontal partition 40 into a lower chamber 42 and an upper chamber 44, said partition having a downwardly turned flange 43 for its securement to the back Wall 30 and other flanges (not shown) for its securement to the compartment end walls. Partition 40 acts as a fan deck to support two centrifugal fan housings 48 and an electric motor 50 therebetween, said motor being cradled within a U-shaped hanger or strap means 51 depending from deck 40. The electric motor is not visible in the drawings, but is positioned centrally between the two fan housings so that its double-ended shaft 49 is connected to respective ones of the fan wheels 47 located in the respective fan housings 48. Each fan housing may be suspended from deck 40 by screws, bolts, etc. going through struck down flanges 46 formed out of the deck wall material.

Air is supplied to the inlet eyes 53 of the fan housings through two rectangular inlet openings 52 and 54 in the lower portion of the cabinet, inlet 52 constituting a return air inlet and inlet 54 constituting a freshair inlet. A suitable damper blade 56 carried by an elongated pivot shaft 58 may be provided to regulate the quantity of fresh air admitted to chamber 42. Filtering of the air may be accomplished by a conventional rectangular filter 60 supported at its front edge on the fixed Wall 62 and at its rear end on the fixed angle element 64.

Referring again to the fan deck40, there are formed in the rear portion of the deck two rectangular openings one of which is shown at 66, each opening'having a di-' mension corresponding to the dimension of the discharge opening for the fan housing 48 so that air discharged from the fan flows upwardly through opening 66 and into a passage or duct 68. Duct 68 is defined partly by rear wall 30, partly by full width upright partition 70, and partly by full width false wall 72, the space between walls '70 and 72 accommodating a finned heat exchange coil 14 (which is the same coil referenced by that number in FIG. 1). The coil seats within passage 68 so that its plate type fins 20 (spaced for example 10 per inch) span the entire width of the passage, for example 33 inches.

The refrigerant flowing through the coil thus heats or cools the air discharged from fans 48, depending on whether coil 14 is acting as a refrigerant evaporator or refrigerant condenser.

The treated air is discharged through conventional grill 74 formed in or supported on the cabinet top wall 34. During the cooling cycle the air passing across the fins 20 undergoes a dehumidifing action so that condensate is formed on the fin surfaces. The fins are oriented so that the fin leading edges 76 angle downwardly and forwardly toward the horizontal partition 40, the lower front corners 78 of the fins being located forwardly of the openings 66 in the partition so that condensate from the fins can gravitate into a drain pan 80 which extends the full width of the central compartment.

The aforementioned tube-in-tube heat exchanger 23 can take the form of a single coil unit disposed in the space 82 forwardly of partition 70. The mounting means for the coil can comprise a hanger structure 84 having a back wall or plate 86 suitably secured to partition 70, and two forwardly extending wall structures 88 and 90, the wall structure 88 underlying the upper tube runs of the coil, and the wall structure 90 overlying the lower tube runs of the coil. Suitable clips 92 may be bolted or otherwise secured to the wall structures 88 and 90 to retain the coil convolutions in place while permitting removal thereof for servicing or replacement. The entire coil is preferably contained within space 82 between the end walls of the central compartment so that the coil can be removed without disconnecting the U-bends or removing portions of the compartment end walls. Containment of the entire coil within space 82 is also advantageous in that all condensate formed on the coil surfaces is automatically discharged into the drain pan 80, which extends the full width of the central compartment. Preferably the coil is spaced from wall 70 so that any vibration of wall 70 due to air flow along its rear face will not be transmitted to the coil.

It will be seen that after removal of the front panel 36 the entire interior space defined by the cabinet is ac cessible for removal of the drain pan 80, or coil 82, or fan housings 48. The drain pan is preferably retained against rattling by two flanges 94 and 96 formed out of the partition 40 material. Flange 94 also provides an extended sealing surface for cooperation with the mattype sound insulation 98 carried on the rear face of panel 36; the seal prevents air flow across the partition 40- panel 36 joint. Without such a seal there is a possibility that each fan could draw some of its air from the upper chamber instead of from the inlets 52 and 54.

Previous to the development of the FIG. 2 design a design was proposed wherein the air coil 14 occupied substantially the entire upper portion of the cabinet, and the tube-in-tube coil was located in pancake fashion on the bottom wall 32. In the pancake position of the tubein-tube coil there was no adequate means for condensate disposal; hence it was necessary to encapsulate the coil in a foam insulator mass or block. Such procedures were costly and also caused the coil to occupy a considerable part of the space 49 below filter 60. The coil thus interferred with air flow through inlets 52 and 54 so that a higher r.p.m. motor 50 was required to produce a satisfactory flow through outlet 74. The illustrated location of coil 82 avoids the insulation problem and air obstruction problem.

In the predecessor arrangement the air flow noise was for some reason louder than with the present arrangement. Also the fore-aft air distribution through the grill 74 was not uniform, most of the air going through the front half of the grill. Apparently the illustrated duct configuration at 70, 72 produces a less turbulent air flow, with consequent less noise emission. It is known that in centrifugal fans a major part of the air is discharged along the outer scroll wall remote from the cut-off wall; in the illustrated arrangement most of the air will therefore flow upwardly near the cabinet back wall 30 and will tend to strike the false wall 72v where it will turn forwardly. The air will also be turned by the resistance offered by fins 14, since the air will tend to seek the shortest least resistant path across the fins; this short path is denoted by arrow 100 in FIG. 2. Apparently the wall 72 cooperates with the fin orientation to smoothly turn the air as it flows through the fin space, thus reducing turbulence and accompanying noise. The tilting of the fins 14 thus not only facilitates condensate removal but also turns the air so that the fore-aft distribution of air is more uniform at the grill, and so that air noise is lessened.

FIG. 3 EMBODIMENT In most respects the FIG. 3 embodiment is similar to the FIG. 2 embodiment; hence similar reference numerals are employed where applicable. As shown in FIG. 9 the cabinet comprises a permanently mounted section 100 and a slide-out chassis 102. Section 100 includes two end Walls 104 and 106 depending from a top wall 108. As shown best in FIG. 4, wall 104 is provided with a reversely turned lower edge 109 which abuts against the outer face of a short upstanding flange 110 formed integrally with a sub panel 112. Wall 106 (not shown in FIG. 4) is formed as a mirror image of wall 104.

As seen in FIG. 3 flange 110 is formed with two vertical slots 114 for reception of bolts 116 (FIG. 4) going through the reversely turned edge 109 of wall 104. A similar slot-bolt arrangement is provided at the lower edge of wall 106. Upper edges of walls 104 and 106 are reversely turned, as at 118 (FIG. 4), to permit nut-bolt attachment thereof to the concealed flanges 120 on the cabinet top wall 108. Thus, top wall 108 and end walls 104 and 106 form a semi-rigid sub-assembly which can be handled separately from sub panel 112 during installation at the site. Rigidity is added to the sub-assembly by flanging the panels at 120, 122 and 124, i.e. along their rear edges. These flanges form mounting surfaces for nailing the sub-assembly in place against the building wall.

FIG. 3 illustrates sub panel 112 as a flat panel having upturned reinforcement flanges 126 at its front and rear edges. The opposite ends of the panel are flanged, as at 110 (FIG. 4) for further strengthening the panel. As before mentioned, a panel 112 may be connected to the side panels 104 and 106 by nut-bolt means 116. The adjustment provided by slots 114 permits panel 112 to be nailed to the building floor without disturbing the other cabinet sub-assembly, and vice versa. It is thus easier to provide a level top wall 108 without twisting or distorting the remaining panels.

Referring now to chassis 102 (FIG. 9), there is provided a floor panel 128, a back wall 130, and two bulk head panels 132 and 134. Floor 128 is flanged at its front and back edges for strength purposes; the bulkhead panels may also be strengthened by appropriate flanges. The space to the left of bulkhead 132 (FIG. 9) accommodates a conventional refrigerant compressor 136- having selfcontained motor (not shown); conventional rubber mounts 137 at the four corners of the compressor hold it to floor 128. The space between bulkheads 132 and 134 accommodates the two refrigerant coils and fan means shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 9 shows chassis 102 drawn out from cabinet section 100, while FIG. 3 shows the chassis installed within section 100; FIG. 3 also shows removable front panel 140 concealing the operating components from view.

Preferably chassis 102 is cushionably mounted within cabinet section 100 to reduce noise transmission into the room. Therefore in the illustrated embodiment a cushioner pad 142 of semi-rigid material is positioned beneath floor 128. Various different materials of semi-resilient nature, such as foam rubber, foam plastic, Celotex, fibrous materials etc. may be used to form the pad. Preferably the pad has the same plan dimension as. floor 128 so as to most effectively distribute the forces imposed by the chassis weight and chassis vibration.

In some cases sub panel 112 may not be nailed in an exactly horizontal position on the building floor. If floor 128 were to assume such a non-horizontal position the chassis components such as drain pan 80 might not be exactly horizontal or otherwise in the correct location. Therefore the chassis is supported on a bottom panel 144 which is provided with levelling screws 146 near its four comers. Panel 144 is of greater lateral dimension than floor 128 (but lesser lateral dimension than subpanel 112) so that screws 146 can be adjusted after chassis 102 has been installed in cabinet section 100. Panel 144 merely rests within the cabinet section without any permanent connected other than screws 146. The chassis 102 in turn merely rests within section 100 so that its pad 142 transmits chassis load onto panel 144.

Positioned within chassis 102 is a horizontal sheet metal partition 150 having an upturned flange 153 along its rear edge, and additional upturned flanges 151 along each of its side edges. The panel is not permanently connected to the chassis; instead it rests on ledges formed by angle members 152 carried on the facing surfaces of the two bulkheads 132 and 134. In practice two angle members may be mounted on each bulkhead adjacent its front and rear edges. The defined ledges form trackways which enable partition 50 to he slid out of the chassis when it is desired to service the fans carried on the underside of the partition. As shown in FIG. 9, the fans comprise two double inlet fan housings 48 suspended from the partition, the fan wheels thereof being driven by a single electric motor 50.

Removably disposed on the upper face of partition 150 is a drain pan 80 having side walls 156 slidable within flanges 151 but having a front wall 154 which is longer than the spacing between bulkheads 132 and 134. Thus the pan is able to slide into the chassis until its front wall 154 strikes the front edges of the bulkheads. These bulkhead edges are flanged in opposite directions (as at 158 and 160), and screw fasteners 162 can therefore be run through the wall and flanges as shown in FIG. 7 to retain the drain pan in place. Preferably the rear edge of the pan abuts the cut-off walls of the fan housings so that the drain pan retains the partition in place without rattling. If necessary a sealer-cushioner strip of rubber 164 (FIG. 3) can be adhered to the rear fiange 153 for anti-rattler insurance.

Closure panel 140 extends the full width between end walls 104 and 106, thus enabling its insulator pad 98 to seal against wall 154. Any desired means may be used to retain the closure panel in place. As shown in FIG. 3 the panel is suspended at its upper edge by means of an upturned flange 164 formed on the cabinet top wall. The space 166 below panel 140 forms a return air inlet; in this embodiment there is no fresh air inlet.

It will be seen from FIG. 9 that the space between panels 104 and 106 substantially exceeds the width of chassis 102. Thus, the chassis can be positioned off center within cabinet section 100 to leave a space between bulkhead 134 and end panel 106. This space can be used to receive water piping for coil 22. As shown in FIG. 4 the space between bulkhead 132 and cabinet end wall 104 accommodates compressor 136. The central space between bulkheads 132 and 134 accommodates the fan and coil components. Suitable tubing, wiring etc. can be extended through openings (not shown) in bulkheads 132 and 134 to operably connect the components. The entire refrigeration mechanism is located on chassis 102 so that no refrigeration tube joints need be broken to slide out the chassis for service purposes.

What is claimed is:

1. An upright room air conditioning unit comprising a cabinet having a top wall, a front wall, and a rear wall defining a compartment; a first horizontal partition extending entirely across the space between the front and rear walls to subdivide said compartment into a lower chamber and an upper chamber; air inlet means operable to admit air into the lower chamber; fan means within the lower chamber for moving air from the inlet means upwardly through at least one opening in the rear portion of the partition and thence into the upper chamber; a second upright partition located entirely within the upper chamber and subdividing same into a rear air duct communicating with said opening, and a front coil space; refrigeration means comprising a refrigerant compressor mounted within the cabinet, and a first refrigerant evaporator-condenser coil mounted within the air duct to eX- change heat with the air moving therethrough; a second heat exchange coil disposed within the coil space forwardly of the upright partition; said second coil including a first refrigerant condenser-evaporator passage means arranged in fluid circuit with the compressor and first coil, and a second liquid passage means arranged to receive water from an external source whereby the water flowing through the second passage means exchanges heat with refrigerant passing through the first passage means; said first coil comprising a finned coil having parallel tubes equipped with transverse fins, said fins being oriented so that their leading edges angle downwardly and forwardly toward the horizontal partition, the lower front extremities of the fins being located forwardly of the aforementioned opening in the horizontal partition; and drain pan means disposed above the horizontal partition to receive condensate dripping from the fins.

2. The conditioning unit of claim 1 wherein the drain pan means is dimensioned to underlie at least a portion of the second coil to receive condensate dripping therefrom.

3. The conditioning unit of claim 2 wherein the drain pan means comprises a single drain pan.

4. The conditioning unit of claim 2 wherein the entire second coil, including the return bends, is contained within the coil space, whereby to obviate the need for additional drain pan means.

5. The conditioning unit of claim 1 and further comprising hanger means carried by the upright partition for suspending the second coil within the coil space.

6. The conditioning unit of claim 2 wherein at least a portion of the housing front wall takes the form of a panel removably associated with the remaining housing walls to permit access to the fan means, second coil, and drain pan means; said removable panel having mat-type insulation on its rear face; the insulation forcibly abutting the drain pan-partition assembly to seal against air flow across the partition front edge; said removable panel being devoid of flow openings as would defeat the function of the insulation.

7. The conditioning unit of claim 1 wherein the horizontal partition constitutes a fan deck; the aforementioned fan means comprising a centrifugal fan suspended from the deck for upflow discharge through the deck opening into the space forwardly of the cabinet rear wall; said centrifugal fan having its axis arranged horizontally and parallel to the cabinet rear wall; said fan comprising a scroll-type housing arranged with the cut-off wall thereof adjacent the front edge of the opening in the partition whereby the air discharges from the fan primarily through the rear area of the partition opening; the rear wall of the compartment constituting a guide wall for guiding the air into the fins of the first coil.

8. The conditioning unit of claim 1 wherein the cabinet comprises a permanently mounted section, and a removable slide-out chassis; said permanently mounted section including a bottom panel having a sound insulator cushioning pad on its upper face; said slide-out chassis comprising a floor panel, a rear wall upstanding from said floor panel, and twobulkhead panels extending forwardly from said rear wall to define the lateral limits of the aforementioned compartment; said slide-out chassis being positioned within the permanently mounted section so that said floor panel rests on the second insulator cushioning pad.

9. The conditioning unit of claim 8 wherein the permanently mounted cabinet section comprises a sub panel underlying the aforementioned bottom panel, end panels depending from the cabinet top Wall, and adjustable connections between the end panels and opposite end portions of the sub panel for levelling the cabinet top wall without disturbing the sub panel.

10. The conditioning unit of claim 9 and further comprising levelling screws operably connected between the bottom panel and sub panel for levelling the bottom panel without disturbing the sub panel.

11. The conditioning unit of claim 8 wherein the horizontal partition spans the space between the two bulkhead panels; the aforementioned fan means comprising two double inlet centrifugal fan housings suspended from the horizontal partition for upflow discharge through the partition opening, and an electric motor suspended from the horizontal partition in the space between the two fan housings; and ledge-type support means projecting from each bulkhead panel for supporting the horizontal partition while permitting same to be drawn out of the chassls.

12. The conditioning unit of claim 11 and further comprising a drain pan resting on the upper face of the horizontal partition forwardly of the aforementioned opening; and fasteners removably locking the drain pan to the bulkhead panels; said pan being disposed to forcibly seat the partition against the chassis rear wall except after the fasteners have been removed,

13. The conditioning unit of claim 8 wherein the permanently mounted cabinet section comprises spaced end walls depending from the cabinet top wall; said slideout chassis having a lateral dimension which is substantially less than the spacing between the cabinet end walls whereby one of the cabinet end walls cooperates with one of the bulkheads to form a water pipe-accommodation space, and the other cabinet end wall cooperates with the other bulkhead to form a compressor chamber; said compressor being cushionably anchored to the chassis floor panel so that compressor noise is absorbed by the pad underlying thefloor panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,250,978 7/1941 Weiland' 62-426 2,265,272 12/1941 Ditzler 62-426 2,286,491 6/1942 Kucker 62-426 2,697,921 12/1954 Brugler 62-426 2,699,655 1/1955 Garfield 62-160 2,899,803 8/1959 Daley 62-426 2,945,360 7/1960 Tyler 62-285 3,089,315 5/1963 Brandt 62-426 WILLIAM G. WYE, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 

